Practicalities of Nutrient Redistribution Alan Morrow & George Mathers Acknowledgement Dr John Bailey & Martin Mulholland

Potential for redistributing phosphorus in NI  Phosphorus is much more than a by-product of the livestock sector  Appropriate redistribution of phosphorus is in keeping with sustainable land management  Nutrient redistribution has been used to solve water quality problems in the past  Limitation to land bank

Land suitability  Not all land with an apparent P deficit is a suitable candidate for receiving nutrients from another farm  Land managed under agri-environment agreement (approx. 385,000 ha - December 2013) Land with no slurry or manure spreading restrictions above those required under NAP – (56%) – mostly improved grassland Land on which spreading is permitted with input restrictions in addition to NAP - (16%) – eg. semi-improved grassland Land on which spreading of slurry or poultry is not permitted - ha (6%) – semi-natural and species rich grassland Land on which spreading of farmyard manure, slurry and poultry litter is not permitted – (22%) – eg. heather moorland

Land suitability  Sensitive habitats outside agri-environment agreement? o Designated sites – ASSI, SPA, SAC o Environmental Impact Assessment (Agriculture) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2007 o Possible to quantify suitable land

Land availability  Many landowners may not consider importing slurry on to the farm: o self sufficient in P with on-farm livestock manure o content with extensive low input system o fear of introducing disease to the farm – current guidance to reduce the risk of introducing TB into the herd  Land availability is much more difficult to predict than land suitability

Unsuitable land

Suitable land? Is it available?

Application of manures & Nitrates  At present o Livestock manures can be applied without the need to show a crop need for phosphate, If this flexibility is lost it would very difficult to find sufficient suitable land & there would be added cost.  From 1 Jan 2017 high P manures can only be applied if there is a crop requirement, Affects some poultry manures & a few others, AFBI has started a research project on poultry manures will provide updated manure analyses which is anticipated will reflect the reduced P in feed and may take them out of the high P manure category.

Barriers to redistribution  Nitrates Regulations o Need to calculate N Loading Exporter and importer o Need to calculate crop requirement for P Arable importer & possibly grass importer if applying P fertiliser o Need to keep records of manure exports/imports Exporter & importer o Need to submit manure export records to NIEA Exporter o Derogated farms need to check P Balance Exporter

Barriers to redistribution  Distance o No surprise that fields close to farmyard are over supplied and fields further away are under supplied. Conacre 31% of land Why invest for long term if tenure is uncertain Cattle slurry DM % Value of load (2000 gal) (£) Breakeven distance slurry store to field (miles) P & K Index 1P & K Index 3P & K Index 1P & K Index

Help available for farmers to make better use of manures  Farm Nutrient Calculators o Nitrogen Loading Calculator o Manure Storage Calculator o Crop Nutrient Calculator o N Max for Grass o Phosphorus Balance Calculator  7000 users  Available at DARD Online Services with the same access as APHIS online.

Soil Analysis  To assess pH, P and K levels  Why o To correct low pH, o To improve soil fertility and crop yields, o To avoid applying nutrients if P & K indices are high (cost and environmental benefits), o To allow manures to be targeted to low index soils.

Soil Analysis  Optimum values to produce high yielding crops on well drained improved land are: o pHOver 6.0 – 6.5 o Pindex 2 (index 1 for extensive grassland) o Kindex 2-

Soil analysis results  For N. Ireland soils o pH 60%of soils are below optimum (pH< 6.0) o P 28%of soils are below optimum (index 0 & 1) 43%of soils are above optimum (index 3 and above) o K 40%of soils are below optimum (index 0 & 1)

Soil analysis  New soil analysis contract between DARD and Lancrop Laboratories which is: o 24% cheaper - £ vat per sample, o Less than 20p/acre/year, o Has improved reports with colour coding and nutrient recommendations.

New report

Manure processing  Local example of slurry separation,  Equipment used – centrifuge slurry separator,  Cost approx. £115K,  The solid portion has most of the P,  Advantage of separating P for this pig farm: o The solid (high P) portion can be exported to arable farms at less cost, o The liquid portion with high N can be exported to nearby grassland farms.

Manure dry matter app.  To determine slurry dry matter and nutrient content o Based on the correlation between the diameter of a 500ml pool of slurry and dry matter, o Produces a very accurate estimation of dry matter and subsequently nutrient content. o Leading to more accurate nutrient management plans.

Grass yield measurement as a driver for nutrient management  Arable farmers can monitor fertiliser inputs against crop yield and quality,  Grassland farmers do not have grass yield information on tonnage and dry matter.  Silage yield measurement and on the go dry matter is now an option offered by the leading harvester manufacturers.  CAFRE is evaluating the Agri-Net grass budgeting programme.

Collation of grass budgeting data using the AgriNet programme shows yield range of 6.4 – 12.0 t grass DM/ha on CAFRE dairy paddocks

Conclusion  Phosphorus is a finite and valuable resource which must be used efficiently,  Not all low P soils are suitable or available for phosphorus redistribution,  Landowner approach to biosecurity may act as a barrier to redistribution,  More stringent manure application regs. would add significant difficulty and cost to industry,  Nitrates regs., distance and conacre are barriers to nutrient redistribution,

Conclusion continued  Online tools are available to help farmers move the right amount of manure to the right place.  Soil analysis and nutrient management has potential to help farmers make full use of manures to improve soil fertility and raise crop yields,  Manure processing can assist nutrient redistribution – further work is needed to assess the range of technologies,  New technology to assess grass yields could stimulate increased interest in soils and nutrient management